Almond Cake
by Dalaric
Summary: Alaric goes to Boston for the weekend. Who he meets there will disturb the peace he had finally found in his life. What's the second best thing to do? Alaric/Damon friendship and Alaric/Boone
1. Chapter 1

Alaric strolled down the streets of his hometown, enjoying the smells around him that reminded him of the innocence and peace he'd once known and for a split second, Alaric had considered the possibility of going back to living in Boston but, it had proven to be a hard task now to leave Jeremy behind, who was still in high school. And Elena, who still needed love and laundry advice.

And of course, Damon, who would have killed the entire town of Mystic Falls if it hadn't been for Alaric being there to stop him.

It was crazy. No, mind-blowing just thinking about how his life had become. And still, Alaric had no regrets. He just needed a break from all the craziness, and an excuse to visit his family, which, after his long weekend, had reminded him that he really, really did not miss them.

Well.. He had eternity now. Maybe after a decade, or two, he could come back here, start a new life, alone or with a friend. Doesn't really matter. Alaric sat down on a bench in a park he'd spent his childhood visiting every day after school, and recalled a time in which he used to think that, someday, he would have been lucky enough to bring his own child to play here, too. But you get what you get, and Alaric had to think of the ways Damon's existence had ruined him. Although, Alaric fully realized that it was Isobel that ruined him, and not Damon.

If anything, Damon was the one that saved him. If Isobel hadn't found Damon to turn her, she would have hunted someone else down to turn her. It was really, as simple and honest as that. And then, Damon was there for him. Reminded him that there was much more to life, vampire or not, you can simply have fun, let go of the past and enjoy the moment.

_Doesn't change the fact Damon is an annoying prick most of the time, _Alaric thought.

Examining the visitors of the park, playing with their dogs and enjoying life, Alaric's eyes spotted a figure that was will known to him. Getting up, he started slowly walking towards the man standing not very far away from where he was sitting,

_just when I thought I could have spent an entire weekend without any trouble_. Alaric thought annoyingly, when he finally confirmed to himself that the man standing by the park's coffee stand was, _Damon_. He considered avoiding him as it seemed that Damon hadn't noticed him yet. But first, why the fuck was Damon here? Did he seriously follow him? He had absolutely nothing else better to do than to hunt him down and annoy him?

Rolling his eyes, Alaric finally decided to confront Damon. He was flying back to Mystic Falls tonight, anyways, so it's not like Damon was going to ruin his _entire_ trip. Alaric's already won!

"Lost your way?" Alaric said, crossing his arms as he blocked Damon's way, who was just about to leave the coffee stand, almost spilling his coffee on himself and Alaric,

"Whoa, I'm so sorry," Damon said, holding on to his coffee, and looked at Alaric apologetically. Alaric noticed something different about Damon. For starters, Damon wasn't dressed all in black. Actually, this was the first time Alaric had ever seen Damon wearing a _white_ button-up shirt. Hair was a bit longer than when he'd left him, a couple of days ago. He could be wrong, though. And there was something about the _eyes_..

"Damon! What are you doing here?"

Damon, who was about to leave after his weird and sudden apology, seemed to have been confused by Alaric's question, "Uh, sorry man I think you got the wrong guy,"

"What?" Alaric shook his head, "Ha, ha. Damon. Very funny. Come on, there's a bar right around the corner. And you're getting your own hotel room." Alaric said, grabbing Damon's arm and was about to walk when Damon pulled his arm back and took a couple of steps away from Alaric, "Whoa, okay, dude, you're going to stay where you are. I think you've confused me with someone else, ok?"

"Damon- what are you talkin-" Alaric said, but Damon's resistance to go along with him alarmed him, and Alaric gasped. _Could this be true? Am I imagining this?_

Of course, Alaric knows better. He'd seen so many things in his life that _this_, could 100% be possible.

_A fucking doppelganger_.

Carefully, and without making a scene, Alaric gripped on Damon- wait, uh, the doppelganger's arm and locked his eyes to his, "Don't move."

_Just a test_

And what do you know. The doppelganger froze in place, but his eyes kept moving, looking around him in confusion and on the edge of panicking, so Alaric whispered again, "It's okay, don't be scared! What's your name?"

"Boone."

"Boone what?"

"Boone Salvatore."

_Well, shit_

Alaric stared at Boone for a while, not sure what to do. Of course, the right thing to do is to let Boone go, live his life normally as if nothing has happened. The wrong thing to do would be dragging him to this fucked up, complicated world of the supernatural that had ruined Alaric's life. However, curiosity beats everything.

"Please, follow me," Alaric whispered, "It's okay, I will not hurt you, I promise."

* * *

to be continued


	2. Chapter 2

Alaric walked to his hotel room with a million funny thoughts running through his head. Boone's existence means that Damon had once had a child. Did he know that? How will he react? And is this, really, the case or is this just one big coincidence?

Of course, telling Damon about his doppelganger would be the last thing Alaric was going to do, who knows how Damon is going to react when he finds out about Boone. Let alone when he finds out- if he didn't already know, that he had a child of his own before turning into a vampire. Keeping Boone a secret is a high propriety for Alaric now, since his curiosity about his best friend's past beat his cautious self. It should be easy, being miles away from everyone. Just tonight. And tomorrow, after extracting all the information he needs, everything will, _smoothly_, be back to normal.

Hopefully.

Alaric glanced over at Boone, who was silently following him, and it felt weird, looking at Damon, yet.. knowing that that wasn't actually Damon. Will these two doppelgangers be like Katherine and Elena? Stefan and Silas? Is one of them evil, and the other is good? Funny. Alaric could easily guess which one of these two is the 'evil' doppelganger, and he liked him despite that. Will he like this one as well?

Does Boone like bourbon?

"You okay?"

Boone nodded, and even though he looked a little worried, he really did seem Okay, so Alaric stopped suddenly, causing Boone to bump into him,

"Stupid.." Boone whispered

"Well, excuse me if you keep.. doing that!"

Boone raised his eyebrow, "Doing what, exactly?"

"Being all too calm, it's creepy!"

"You're kidnapping me with your mind control... powers! I'm a little shocked! I'm in shock and I need to breathe! Maybe I just need to breathe!" At this point, Boone was practically yelling,

"Oh.." Alaric said, "I am sorry look, you'll forget about all this in the morning- I'm just really curious.. about something and I need your help," he smiled, trying to reassure Boone,

"Whoa hold on a second now!" Boone said, standing up straighter, "You are _NOT_ messing with my memories!"

Alaric crossed his arms and whispered, "Stubborn like him.."

"Like who? That.. Damon guy?"

"Come on, let's go to my hotel room-"

"Not until you tell me why you're kidnapping me!"

"please I'll explain it all in my room!"

"No!" Boone crossed his arms, refusing to walk any further. Alaric moved slowly and looked into his eyes, "Move!" He said, and to Boone's surprise, his legs started to move against his will and he started following Alaric, "You mind-controlling freak, I'm calling the police!" Boone yelled, fumbling through his pocket for his phone as he closed his eyes, a few walkers looked their way making it more difficult for Alaric to compel Boone,

"Relax, Boone! I'm letting you go first thing in the morning! I'm just.. doing a little research, is all now, can you put the phone down?"

"a research?"

Alaric nodded,

"On what?"

"I'm following a family tree. _Your_ family tree, and this friend of mine- Damon!" Alaric smiled, watching Boone's fingers hoovering over his cellphone's numbers carefully, "And.. and, I'm going to explain to you all about my mind-control powers! If you put the phone away,"

Boone slowly opened his eyes and looked at Alaric questionably, and all Alaric could do was smile and nod. Lucky for him, Boone had proven to be just as curious as Alaric was, so after a deep breath, Boone finally followed half willingly.

* * *

to be continued


	3. Chapter 3

"A.. doppelganger?"

Alaric nodded,

"As in.. Like, a real, living, breathing copy of me?"

Alaric nodded, again, "Well, living? Debatable.. I mean, never mind," Alaric hushed himself, and then waited for any more questions that Boone had. But this time, Boone burst out laughing, which kind of annoyed Alaric, who tried to remain calm, "So, tell me your story, Boone,"

After Boone was finally able to stop laughing, he wiped away a tear from the corner of his eye and then walked towards the hotel room's window, "Nothing much, you know. I was born and raised here. My father is an architect, my mom is, well, was a teacher but she retired," Boone took a deep breath, "She's struggling with cancer. I have a younger sister, and.. I guess, that's pretty much it." He shrugged, turning to look at Alaric

"What about your father? Grandfather? I mean, if Damon was your ancestor then that means he must be your father's grandfather," Alaric whispered to himself,

"Am I missing something?"

Alaric shrugged,

"You're saying that this Damon dude is one of my ancestors, possibly my dad's grandfather.."

Alaric nodded,

"So..."

"So...?"

"Isn't he supposed to like, be dead or something?" Boone asked, raising an eyebrow in utter confusion,

"Oh.." Alaric said, only now realizing his mistake. He should have been more careful regarding what he was sharing with Boone, but Alaric was counting on the fact he was going to erase Boone's memory, and so his clumsiness was sort of excused. However, it would have been a lot easier and faster if Boone wasn't such a curious little doppelganger

"Oh, what?"

"Oh.. I just," Alaric shrugged, "I mean, uhm yeah, yeah He IS dead-"

"Bullshit." Boone stood up straighter, crossing his arms, and Alaric had to wonder if this doppelganger was the crazy, evil one by the accusing looks he gave Alaric, "Why don't you stop lying to me and tell me what's really going on."

"You know, I can try a much easier way-"

"You're not going to mind-control me and extract the information you need!"

"Yea, that's exactly what I'm going to do," Alaric said, moving slowly closer to Boone, who kept backing away step by step,

"Listen, he's a vampire, isn't he?" Boone whispered, and then despite himself, laughed, "I mean, I know, I know, crazy! But, I read all that shit about him, Damon Salvatore, and I have seen his picture before."

Alaric froze in his place, not sure what to say to that,

"I read all that crazy vampire crap in personal journals published but, they were all under the section Bullshit," Boone said, more enthusiastically this time, "I was adopted, and in my search for my real family, I figured out the whole story behind my family I just didn't.. _completely_ believe it, til you called me Damon, in the park,"

At this moment, Alaric was staring at Boone, not believing what he was hearing. He crossed his arms and waited for Boone to spill out everything he knew,

"I.. I was adopted when I was only 6, growing up I just had to find out who my real family was. I don't even go by the name Salvatore, my last name is Carlyle, but I knew the moment you said Damon, I knew something was up and I just knew.. I had to go along with it and so I introduced myself as Boone Salvatore,"

"What are you saying?" Alaric said, running out of patience,

"You really thought I'd read about vampires, see a picture of my grand-grandfather who looks exactly like me and not carry fucking vervain with me, _all the time_?"

"You son of a bitc.."

"Ah ah! Hold it right there! You're obviously a vampire, too.. How come you can walk under the sun?"

"Long story."

"Tell me. Tell me and I'll tell you all about my family history-"

"I know all about your family history, Boone. I just need names."

"Fine, I'll give them to you!"

Alaric rolled his eyes. This doppelganger had proven to be more difficult than the other one.

"I have this ring," Alaric finally said, raising his hand, defeated. There was no point in trying to hide anything now, since Boone seemed to already be a believer, "It protects me."

"Okay, makes sense," Boone nodded slowly, "Looks exactly like Damon Salvatore's"

Alaric raised an eyebrow, "He gave this one to me, actually, after I.. turned"

"You won't even believe the things they document." Boone smiled, "I need to meet him."

"No. No way in hell." Alaric said, standing straighter, "That's the last thing you would want to do like, ever!"

"Yea yea, I know! All that crap about him being a badass, bloodsucking, merciless killing machine, I know all about that, don't worry!" Boone shrugged, "But I just need to meet him!"

"You didn't give me names, yet."

Boone sighed loudly, "My father- my biological father was a drunken asshole, I've never met him but his name was Gerard, now his father- my grandfather's name was Noah, and finally, Noah's father was.. Damon." Boone said, sort of proudly, "So, Damon, Noah, Gerard, me. I've never had a real family before, Alaric. I need to meet Damon."

"He's not going to be the family you're looking for, Boone,"

"I don't need that type of families, Alaric!" Boone yelled, "I had a loving, caring one. That's not what I'm looking for! Can't you see? My whole life, all I wanted was to meet someone that was blood-related to me, I know, this sounds super lame and stupid but, I just, I need this, ok? And I was recently giving up on my research- I just couldn't find much more about Damon Salvatore like the guy had vanished in the 20's so I assumed he died then, and this whole vampire thing was really, nothing but complete bullshit. But then, the universe sends you, _to me_? That's gotta mean something!"

"Wow.. Touching speech. Still, no." Alaric said more firmly, and then moved to pack his bags, "Now if you'll excuse me, I've satisfied my curiosity and now I have a flight to catch"

Boone looked defeated, and then dropped himself on the couch. Alaric gave him a quick glance and hoped he wouldn't have to kick him out of the room, only, Boone was sort of sulking there, and then started, almost inaudibly sniffling,

"Are.. are you crying?"

Boone didn't reply, but his sniffling sounds got a little louder,

"Seriously? What are you, 12?"

"I'm 22.." Boone answered, and when he raised his face, tears were already running down his cheeks and Alaric felt extremely awkward and unsure of what he was supposed to do,

"You just don't understand how it is to be so close yet, so far away from someone. Of course, I bet you haven't spent your entire life searching for someone only to have your dreams crushed,"

Actually.. Alaric did know how that felt like.

Boone got up, and was ready to leave the room. Alaric's eyes followed Boone and when he reached the room's door, and was about to turn the knob, Alaric felt a bang of guilt and hated himself for it. Cursing under his breath, he finally said, "wait.."

Boone quickly turned around, looking at Alaric with eyes full of renewed hope,

"If I let you come with me, I just need you to promise me to do everything I tell you to-"

"Okay, I promise!"

"Wait! You don't seem to realize how dangerous the situation is. Damon is impulsive and his very first reaction could be killing you, without even blinking. And then maybe jerk off to your body,"

Boone felt sick,

"I'm not even kidding, Boone. And I'm not promising you anything. You're coming with me, and you're staying at my place, until I tell you whether it was safe for you or not, to meet him. There's a high chance you won't be able to even take a look at him, we can't risk that," Alaric instructed, "But I don't want to be the one crushing your dreams." He said quietly, already regretting his decision

Boone smiled wildly, and then ran to Alaric, hugging him tightly. Alaric felt awkward. Damon's hugs were more.. manly and quick (yes, they hugged often..) But Boone's were more loving and almost crushed Alaric's bones.

Ah well..

* * *

To be continued.


End file.
